Into The Aniverse
by The Oracle
Summary: A Bucky X Doctor Who crossover.  The Doctor gets sucked into the Aniverse.  He has new allies, a new body...and an old enemy to confront.  Rated T mostly for violence.
1. Chapter 1

This story uses characters from the Franchises of Bucky O Hare, and Doctor Who (The New Series). I do not own any of the charcters, and I have no intention whatsoever of making money from this story.

Also, in terms of Doctor Who, I'm starting with where the Doctor was at the end of the Second season, just so you know, since I've yet to watch the Third season.

Now on with the show!

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All was quiet aboard the TARDIS. It had been months now since the Doctor had last taken a traveling companion. He was currently slumped back in one of the many chairs around the main console.

The glow of the engine reflected off his pale skin, and short dark hair, his wiry body relaxed, but restless at the same time. All he could do now was look around at the empty seats, and remember all the people that used to sit in them.

He coughed a little bit, clearing his throat. He realized at that moment that it was the first time he had heard his own voice for what seemed like an eternity.

Rose could be so grating at times, he thought…but she certainly helped him to forget his loneliness. He'd been through it before of course, throughout his earlier traveling days. But ever since the time wars, the fact that he was the last of the Time Lords only added fuel to this increasing sense of isolation.

Now she was gone, living in another universe with her family. All he could do now was move on, travel to where he wanted…with nothing left but memories of her, as well his former home world, to comfort him.

He looked into the viewing screen placidly, just admiring the stars for a moment. It wasn't something he did too much, but ever since he first landed on Earth, and learned about how humans looked at them; he gained a whole new appreciation.

"Funny idea, constellations" he mused to himself. "Being able to look into the night sky and make shapes out of the stars…like some funny little connect-the-dots game."

He chuckled a little as examined the ones he remembered. "And a lot of them are animals…I always knew humans were a bit odd about the other creatures they lived with, but to literally put them among the stars…" He went through them all in his head. "They've got a lion, a crab, a scorpion…they've even got a goat with a fishtail. Don't know where they came up with that one."

The Doctor pressed a few buttons as he then changed views to another section. "Then we've got our bull friend, Taurus"…

His train of thought froze right there, as he noticed something unusual on the screen.

"Hmmm…the old bull's got something strange going on…just inside of his head, it looks like."

He took the TARDIS in for a closer look, examining the bizarre phenomena. He slipped his glasses on, as usual, before doing so.

"It looks almost like a black hole…" he muttered to himself, tapping the console a little with his index finger. "Doesn't seem to be sucking too much inside…yet we are detecting some powerful gravitational pull." He sighed and scratched his head a little. "Now, how is that possible?"

He fiddled with the console some more to get more answers, standing now as he was bent over. "High concentration of…what seems to be accelerated photon energy. It's like somebody used it to punch a hole in the universe." He furrowed his brow. "But for what purpose, I wonder?"

He then suddenly felt a tremendous jolt, knocking him backward from where he was standing. By the time he stumbled back to his feet, he felt a tremendous pull of gravity over his form, as well as over the ship's form.

"Blast!" The doctor grunted. "I got too close!"

He pulled himself back over to the console, and immediately began to fire up the engines in the TARDIS, trying to get away. The interior of the ship rumbled more as he felt the vibrations, the engines trying to go at full blast, but struggling for some reason.

"Come on, old girl…come on…" The doctor encouraged his vehicle nervously, while turning his head to the side. He heard some of the metal grinding and warping slightly, as it fell victim to the pull of mysterious hole, then engines struggling even more.

"Oh no…" He shook his head as he took a few readings from the systems frantically. "The photons…they're interfering with the engines somehow…they're not strong enough to counteract the effect…damn!"

He could see the ship being pulled closer and closer to the hole on the viewing screen, as he realized it was inevitable now. He had heard theories about alternate realities, and even experienced one for himself with Rose…but he knew there was no guarantee that this hole was a passage to one of those worlds. He knew very well that this could just as well be the end for him and the TARDIS.

With that he closed his eyes, bracing for the worst as the ship began to vanish into the hole…with only one thought going through his head.

"Goodbye Rose…"

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"Ok…all seems to be clear…"

Captain Bucky O Hare motioned to his crew as had finished his thorough sweep of the large room. It was a lobby, the main entrance to an important government building. Once alive with the hustle and bustle of bureaucrats and officials, the red floors and white marble walls now dark and silent, with only a few lights flickering…with bodies lying on the floor in some places as well.

Deadeye, Blinky, and Jenny all descended quickly from a large stairwell, with two other guests behind them. A wide tapestry on the wall behind them, that displayed the symbol of the planet they were on, called Skaro.

It was a planet of lizards, and one that had always been in a strained relationship with the other mammalian planets in the Aniverse. Komplex, and Toad Empire had more than once tried to ally themselves with this place before their destruction.

The Righteous Indignation, the same slayers of the empire, had been called in as bodyguards for a new mission. They were to accompany the high Articficer of Aldebaran and her granddaughter, Felicia, on a diplomatic mission to Skaro. Some time ago, a Skaran cruiser had flown into Aldebaran space, and refused to respond to identification requests. When the Aldebaran ships flew in for a closer look, the cruiser opened fire, nearly destroying one of them.

The High Council leader of Skaro did eventually discipline the pilot for his actions. The High Artificer of Aldebaran, however, wanted to make sure that no bad blood developed between the two planets as a result of the incident.

Originally, only Jenny had been tapped to accompany her and Felicia, but Jenny requested that her friends be with her for this. She felt that it was a good excuse to see the entire crew again, which she hadn't served with for a while. Willy Duwitt, their longtime ally from Earth, had since lost the ability to cross over into the Aniverse, due to the decay of his photon accelerator. Jenny saw this as a real shame, to lose the only ally who shared in the secret of her powers, but life had to go on…especially at this moment.

"Where'd those creeps go?" Deadeye growled, all of his trigger fingers itching for action.

"I don't know…" Jenny responded, ominously. "But something tells me they're probably still in the building somewhere."

"This is all so bizarre…" The High Artificer spoke up, as she stood in back of Jenny with Felicia. "There I was, in the great hall, having a wonderful conversation with the Grand Pontiff of the High Council, when suddenly these, these…things, burst in unannounced and open fire…if he hadn't pointed me to his secret exit, I probably would be lying right next to him now."

"Do you think the Grand Pontiff's ok?" Felicia asked, as she sounded genuinely worried.

"We won't know for sure until we've eliminated the threat." Blinky spoke up. "Then you could check on him yourselves, I imagine."

Bucky turned, and quickly shushed them all, hearing something. "I think I'm detecting movement…right behind this door…" He walked slowly to the doorway to the right of the party, as the others all prepared their weapons, staying very silent. Felicia clung gently to her grandmother as this all transpired.

Bucky slowly crept up to the door, reaching out for the knob…he counted to himself as he prepared to swing the door open and attack with the others…1…2…

CRASH!

Before he could get to three, something suddenly busted through the ceiling. Two menacing metallic beings flew down into the lobby. They looked like miniature tanks almost, their domed heads sporting a single stalk, with one glowing blue eye. Thrusters burned from under the bases of the metal forms, which were also surrounded by small globes, that seemed to act as sensors.

"TARGETS DETECTED" one of the creatures said as it flew down, the two small lamps on its head lighting up as it spoke. It's electronically distorted voice was a horrifying sound to Bucky and the others, who had never heard such a noise.

Deadeye immediately sprung into action, all four of his hands carrying guns as he yelled out and fired at the two descending machines. "Eat this, you overgrown garbage-munching freaks!"

His multiple blasts struck the two creatures all about their forms…and seemed to have no effect whatsoever. Blinky ran up next to Deadeye and backed him up with blasts from his own weapons.

The two strange beings acted as if nothing has even happened, as they both landed a mere few meters away from the two soldiers. They then rolled smoothly towards them, as the two quickly backed away and fired a few more times…still not having any success.

"EXTERMINATE!" The creature on the left exclaimed, as they both returned fire with deadly blue lasers from their small arms, the weapons making an electronic whining noise as they fired.

Blinky quickly shoved Deadeye out of the way, as the shot from the creature on the left was headed right towards him. The brave android absorbed the brunt of the blast, groaning and sputtering as he then went limp and fell to the floor, not moving.

"Blinky!" Bucky shouted, as Deadeye looked on, stunned. He quickly shook it off, though, as he saw the two metallic creatures rolling towards him now, powering up their weapons, still shouting, "EXTERMINATE!" every so often.

Bucky quickly fired his own blaster, getting the attention of at least one of the creatures for a moment. He was soon suddenly taken by surprise, though, as the door behind him suddenly exploded.

He flew several feet, and nearly knocked himself out on a pillar in the room. Indeed there were two more of these deadly creatures behind the door, and they had been patiently waiting to strike until the two from above came in first.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE" One of the machines barked at Bucky. The daring rabbit had no intention of doing so, however, as he quickly got up and ran behind the pillar with his gun.

"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" The two machines roared in unison, firing off their weapons once more as they rolled into the lobby to join their allies.

The blasts nearly demolished the pillar Bucky was behind, as he then took a deep breath, and jumped out from behind it to attack. He fired numerous times at the domed heads of the creatures, only to have them bounce off as they blasted in unison.

He dove out of the way just in time, as he noticed something from before they fired…one of the machines had suddenly turned its head as he fired, as if it was trying to protect something…something that seemed to be related to the stalks extending from their heads.

"Jenny!" He shouted to his first mate, ducking behind another pillar. "Try to aim for the eye! I think that might be a soft spot!"

Jenny, who at this point been simply watching over the High Artificer and Felicia, simply nodded and turned to the creatures that had been firing on him. She fired a few shots to distract one of them, and carefully aimed as it turned its attention towards her…

She then fired quickly, luck being on her side as the blast struck the unsuspecting creature right in its blue eye. It cried out electronically and sputtered, as the damaged area began spewing a gooey, blue and white substance.

"I CANNOT SEE! I CANNOT SEE!" it yelled as it rolled around aimlessly, before clumsily crashing into the creature next to it. They both fell over, the live creature now pinned under the weight of the expired one.

The other two creatures, that had been trying to kill Deadeye, now turned their attention to Jenny, allowing the duck to run over and scoop up the damaged Blinky. He then fired at one of the creatures with a free hand, turning its attention back from Jenny. Bucky helped out in this too, jumping from behind another pillar, and firing at the other creature.

"Deadeye!" Jenny yelled to him, passing on Bucky's information. "Aim for the eye! That's their weakpoint!"

"Jenny!" Felicia suddenly shouted to her.

Bucky heard Felicia shout to her as well, as he tried to take out one of the other creatures…before he suddenly heard the noise of one of their blasters going off…followed by a thud.

He jumped away from the attacking creature, as he turned to see Jenny lying on the ground…she didn't appear to be moving, or breathing, as Felicia stood with her mouth wide open in shock.

"NO!" Bucky yelled as he ran to his fallen comrade. "Jenny! No!"

He then suddenly felt a hand grabbing him as he got closer. It was Deadeye, with Blinky still over his shoulder, as he kept another blast from hitting the rabbit. He looked over and saw that the culprit was another creature that had just entered the room from the same blown up door, with quite a few others in tow.

"We've gotta get outta here!" He shouted to Bucky. "We can't keep these two in danger for much longer!" He motioned to Felicia and the High Artificer.

"Jenny…" Bucky lamented softly.

"Jenny would want us all to stay alive, Bucko." Deadeye gripped his Captain's shoulder. "So let's get these two to safety, and get Blinky here fixed up…then we can make these tin cans pay for what they did!"

Bucky nodded slowly, taking one last look at Jenny's body…before running over to keep Felicia and her grandmother covered, firing at the oncoming machines frequently.

Felicia looked back, wanting to properly mourn the loss of her mentor, but still knowing she had to leave, as The High Artificer had a firm grip of her hand, helping her to run away as the creatures followed for a few more meters, then watched them run out through the front door.

"REMANING TARGETS ESCAPED" One of the creatures spoke up.

"I SHALL ASSEMBLE AN INTERSTELLAR PURSUIT FORCE." Another creature spoke as it rolled up next to it. "PROCEED WITH PLAN BETA…LOCATE REMAINING HIGH COUNCIL PONTIFFS."

"AFFIRMATIVE" The first creature nodded its stalk lightly, before leaving the scene with a few others of its ilk.

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Moments passed, as Jenny's motionless form suddenly began to stir. Although she had been left for dead, no one really had seen what happened. She sensed the creature from before was about to fire, and had quietly created a psionic shield near her chest to deflect the blast.

Still, though, the blast had packed quite a wallop when it collided with the shield, and managed to knock the wind right out of her. In addition, she still wanted her powers to remain a secret, and also wanted a chance to sneak around this place some more.

So, she played dead…not a very nice thing to do, she thought, but it was the only option available to her at the moment. She just hoped that Bucky and the others would forgive her for doing it…assuming she got out of this alive that was.

First things first, she needed to regroup. She quickly got up, and left the building before any of the creatures spotted her. She ran down the steps of the front entrance, and hid behind a few trees nearby, taking time to consider the situation.

She reached into pocket in her suit, and quickly withdrew a small canteen, sipping the water in it. It was as she drank that she began to sense something…something very unusual.

She stepped out from behind the tree, and walked into a clearing. She readied her blaster, aiming it here and there as she tried to keep her mind fixed on the strange, erratic signal she was getting…but not having very much luck in doing it.

Suddenly, she heard an immense whooshing sound behind her, sensing an immense glow as well…she quickly turned with her gun, and without hesitating, fired.

She then saw what it was she had fired at…a strange blue object with the words "POLICE BOX" written on the top…she looked down to see the figure of a wide-eyed human male peeking out of it…who had just been mortally wounded by her blast.

"Why…" The Doctor grunted as he slumped out of the TARDIS. "Why did you do that?" He then fell to the ground as Jenny gasped and rushed over to him.

"Asking for directions…always a pain…" he spoke softly as he laid on his back.

"I'm sorry!" She exclaimed, sensing his benevolent nature now. "I thought you were one of them…"

"One of who?…" The Doctor furrowed his brow.

"It's…a long story…" she looked down at him with equally wide eyes. "Are you…human?"

"Not quite…" The doctor sighed as he coughed a little. "But I've been told I could pass for one."

Jenny looked around frantically as she then gazed back down at the person she accidentally shot down. "Is there anything I can do for you."

"Just stand back…" The Doctor responded as he closed his eyes. "I think I'm gonna have to regenerate yet again…No thanks to you."

Jenny stood up slowly as she heard him say this. "Regenerate?"

She then gasped and jumped as red energy suddenly shot out of the Doctor's head and hands, washing over his form. All she could do was watch as the man's head was enveloped by the energy, slumped back with his mouth open and eyes closed…before it suddenly changed shape and form.

The doctor felt the regeneration complete, as he quickly sat up…his eyes were still closed as he breathed heavily, slowly coming back to his senses as he brought a hand up and felt his face.

It felt fuzzy along the mouth…maybe he had a beard in this new form. He rubbed up past his cheek, and realized that this fuzzy feeling extended…all the way up to his forehead.

He then stood up quickly as his eyes shot right open, looking himself over…his hands were now furry, and more paw-like. The fur was yellow with black spots…like a cheetah.

"What?" He looked himself over with more bewilderment, as Jenny just looked on with utter confusion, wondering who this strange fellow was.

He then felt something odd behind him, as he reached back and rubbed at the base of his spine…he had a tail too now, as his brow furrowed over his green eyes. He had somehow regenerated in the form of an anthropomorphic feline.

"What in the name Gallifrey?" Was the only thing he could say…


	2. Getting Acquainted

"How are the repairs going?"

Bucky looked over at Deadeye as he tried to fix up Blinky on the fly. The android was sprawled out on a workbench as the duck tinkered carefully with his parts, gritting his teeth every so often.

"Well, I think I found the main problem…his battery's all busted up…I think with a quick patch job and a recharge, our little buddy should be good to go in a few hours."

Bucky sighed, half relieved, half regretful. "Good…losing one comrade is enough for one day."

"I hear ya, Bucko…" Deadeye responded with real sympathy in his grizzled voice, nodding slowly as he worked. He waited until Bucky left the room, and took a moment to pull out a hidden flask, unscrewing the top as a strong alcoholic liquid resided within.

"Here's to ya, Jen…" He spoke quietly as he raised the flask for a moment, and then brought it down to take a good swig of the liquid. He winced, but in a somewhat pleasurable manner, as he felt it go down his throat…he then put the flask back in his pocket, and got back to work.

Bucky sauntered into the bridge of his ship slowly, looking at all the empty chairs, as the controls were on autopilot for the moment. He looked over to the chair where Jenny had always sat, now seeing princess Felicia occupying it at the moment. She sighed gently as she ran a finger along one of the consoles in front of her, a sad look on her face.

"I can't believe she's not here anymore…" She spoke as she heard Bucky's footsteps behind her. Her depressed tone of voice conveyed exactly how crushed she was by what had happened to Jenny on Skaro.

"She was a hell of a first mate…" Bucky responded as he turned the chair next to Felicia, and sat very close to her. "She was a terrific friend too…whenever you needed someone, she was right there for you. It's like she had a sixth sense about that kind of thing."

Felicia smiled, but tried not to smile too much, realizing that Bucky didn't know just how right he was about Jenny having a sixth sense.

"She was a great teacher…" She spoke, adding to the moment of fond remembrance. "Everything I learned from her went on to have a special significance in my life."

"Oh yeah…" Bucky scratched his chin a little, remembering all the times they visited Aldeberan for that purpose. "I always meant to ask…what was Jenny teaching you, anyway?"

Felicia hesitated for a moment, before thinking of a way to tiptoe around the truth. "She…basically taught me all the important things that come with being an Aldeberan cat. Our ways, our culture, and how we interact with creatures from outside our world. It's especially important that princess like myself have a mentor to teach her these things."

Bucky almost sensed some kind of deception going on at this moment, but he was too saddened by Jenny's loss to be at all agitated with it at the moment. Instead, he just shook his head and laughed a little as Felicia blushed.

"You Aldeberans are such mysterious people." He grinned just a little as he brushed his ears back and reclined in his chair.

Felicia giggled in response. "Well, that makes us all the more interesting…don't you think?" She smiled to him warmly.

"True…very true." Bucky smiled as he idly browsed all the screens and consoles in front of him. His mind was still fixated on Felicia, though, as she went through fond memories of her mentor in her own head.

She was so much like Jenny now, he thought to himself…maybe one of these days he could convince her to get off that throne and…no…no that would never happen, he continued to think. Royalty often doesn't lend itself well to the soldiery life. But still…there was something about her…something unique, that he noticed in Jenny before her.

He didn't get a lot of time to consider this, however, as Felicia looked curiously at a blip that suddenly showed up one of the screens near her.

"What's this?" She asked curiously, pointing the blip out to the Captain.

Bucky furrowed his brow as he leaned over in his chair and looked at it. He typed a few commands into the console below, in an effort to identify the bogey.

"The computer can't identify it…" he sighed a little. "It must not be listed in the database."

Felicia watched him as he took a deep breath, and quickly got up, walking out of the bridge. She followed him as quickly as she could.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go tell deadeye to hurry up on Blinky's patch job." Bucky spoke as he walked ahead of her, turning just a little. "Then I'm gonna tell him to get all our weapons systems ready as soon as possible."

"Why?" Felicia tried to keep up as he walked quickly. "Do you think those creatures are chasing us now?"

"That's what my gut's telling me." Bucky stopped for a moment, before completely turning to face the princess. "Which is why you should stop following me, and go rejoin the High Artificer in her quarters."

"I can help you!" Felicia protested.

"No." Bucky spoke firmly as he shook his head. "We're in a dangerous situation, and you're too important to the mission. Now go!"

Felicia sighed as Bucky walked away, and left her standing in the hallway. She wanted so badly to tell him about what she could do, and what Jenny had been capable of…but she respected Jenny's lesson to never reveal her powers to anyone from the outside, so she went no further in what she had last said to him.

"Some way…somehow…" she said to herself, as she relented for now, and walked back to her quarters…

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The Doctor latched onto a nearby tree on the Sakro landscape with his new claws. All the initial shock he had felt from this latest, and bizarre regeneration, was now replaced with all the natural enthusiasm and curiosity that had always been his trademark. Indeed it was quite fitting, out of all the animals he could have become in this place, he ended up as a curious cat of sorts.

Jenny followed this strange person from behind, forgetting her previous concerns with the attacking creatures for the moment as she watched him get a feel for the tree, and then quickly scurry up its rough surface.

"Extraordinary!" The doctor exclaimed as he stood up on a thick branch now, looking down at Jenny as his cheetah tail swished. "You know, climbing had never been a particular physical strongpoint of mine before…but I just feel so natural about it now!"

Jenny then gasped a little as she saw him suddenly leap from the tall tree, and make a flawless landing on the ground, bending his knees for a moment, before straightening out. His cheetah form was still dressed in the professorial clothes of his previous form, as he quickly turned and grinned to the Aldeberan cat.

"I knew that cats always landed on their feet." He spoke as he walked closer to her. "I guess the same could be said for us half breeds as well."

"Half breeds?" Jenny cocked her head to the side a little, confused. She then shook her head and waved her hands a bit as she backed away from the advancing male. "Look, who are you? Where did you come from?"

The doctor then suddenly remembered what had happened before the regeneration, having been too caught up in his new form to think back. His eyes lit up immediately, as memory returned.

"The hole! Right!" He put up his finger for a moment as he looked back towards the TARDIS. "This must be another kind of alternate universe."

"Universe?" Jenny's mouth opened as she heard that word, which she only recalled Willy using before. "No no, you're in the Aniverse…"

"Aniverse?" The Doctor's interested tone of voice took a higher pitch for a second as he slowly turned to face Jenny, a surprised smile present on his face now. His regeneration was starting to make more sense to him now.

"Do you mean that everyone in this reality is some sort of anthropomorphic animal?"

Jenny just nodded slowly, still not quite sure what to make of this person. "Yes…"

The Doctor just laughed happily as he turned to survey his new surroundings. "Unbelievable!" He looked over his paws for a moment once more, then sat down on the grass, running his fingers through the earth in this strange new world.

"Just when I think I've seen everything that life as a Time Lord has to offer, fate always seems to throw something completely new at me."

"Time Lord?" Jenny furrowed her brow as she spoke those two words softly.

The Doctor then turned and focused his full attention on her finally, getting back onto his pawed feet. "Pardon my sudden burst of self-centeredness." He chuckled as he walked up to the other cat once again. "What's your name, miss?"

"Jenny…" She responded, hesitating at first.

"Ah, Jenny." He nodded quickly with a small smile. "I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor?" Jenny gave him a strange look. "Doctor who?…"

"Ohh, just the Doctor!" he chuckled as he waved his hand at her dismissively. "Really, it's the only name I've gone under for the past 200 or so years, so it's the one I'm most comfortable with hearing."

"200 years?" Jenny's mouth nearly dropped to the ground. "Are you really that old?"

"Oh no…" He shook his head slowly. "No…more like 750 something."

Jenny scoffed at the idea, and just walked around him once, examining his form. "Look, what are you? First you appear to me as a human…and now suddenly you're an animal like me…"

"Oh that…" The Doctor remembered what had happened, before explaining it as well and concisely as he could. "See, I'm a time lord…and what you just saw was a regeneration…it's what we do when our previous bodies are fatally wounded, or just become way too old."

Jenny blinked a little bit in confusion, before she sighed and sat on a nearby rock, rubbing her head. "This is all too much…"

The Doctor laughed a little as he took a moment to examine some of the plant life around him. "You've no idea how often I hear that from my companions". He hummed a bit as he took a leaf and stood up straight, looking at Jenny once more.

"You know, I never asked you…what is this planet called anyway?"

Jenny, who was just trying to take a moment to let all this new information sink into her mind, idly brushed her hair away from her face as she responded in a matter-of-fact sort of way. "The planet Skaro."

"Skaro?" His eyes shot wide open at the sound of the planet's name. He stepped away from the plants as he then quickly hopped up on a low-hanging branch. He used his new cat-like agility to balance on this branch, as he slowly crouched and observed the buildings in the distance.

Jenny quickly ran up to where he was, startled at his surprised reaction. "What? Have you heard of this place before, all of a sudden?"

"Yes I have…" The Doctor turned back to face her, still crouched on the branch. "See, the planet Skaro existed in my reality too…but now it's gone."

"Gone?" Jenny gave him a puzzled look as she tilted her head and crossed her arms.

"Gone! Destroyed! No more!" He exclaimed, waving his free arm around to exaggerate his point. He then sighed and slowly shook his head.

"Just like my home…" he said to himself, softly.

"What was that?" Jenny cocked an ear, trying to hear him better.

The Doctor ignored her for the moment, lost in his own thoughts as he ran his fingers through his furry chin.

"This is where it all began…" he muttered to himself as he watched. "In my universe anyway…" He shuddered a little as he remembered the Skaro of his reality, the birthplace of his greatest foe. "I just hope on the souls of all the Time Lords, that it's not starting on this Skaro as well…"

Jenny let him have his moment of private thought, as she idly wandered around the clearing. She wondered how Bucky and the others were faring, as she found a few flowers in a bed not far from where the TARDIS sat.

She reached down and gently plucked a few of them from the earth. It had indeed been a while since she was last able to relax like this…it proved to be her last time in what would seem to be forever, as she then looked up to see a glowing blue eye staring right at her.

"TARGET RE-ACQUIRED!" The creature yelled as it rolled into the clearing from behind the bushes. Jenny gasped, and ran back over to the tree, as the Doctor froze, hearing the familiar voice.

He narrowed his eyes as he slowly turned and dropped down from the branch. "I spoke too soon…"

"NEW TARGET LOCATED!" The creature rolled to the middle of the clearing, eyeing the Doctor.

He took a deep breath as a sour look crossed his face. "You have a bad habit of showing up over and over again, no matter how many times I seem to wipe you out!"

Jenny's gaze immediately shot over to the Doctor. "Have you fought these things before?"

"IDENTIFY TARGET…" The creature spoke as it scanned him, clearly interested in The Doctor's last comment.

The Doctor nodded quickly as he looked long and hard at the creature, then back at Jenny. "Many, many times…miniscule creatures placed in a mobile, metal body…all emotions removed except hatred."

"What are these things?" Jenny asked him again, anxiously.

"Daleks!" He responded, with almost a snarl in his voice.

The lone Dalek continued to scan him, as Jenny stood with her blaster at the ready, pondering what to do. "Do they know who you are, then?"

He shook his head again. "Not likely…this is a completely different reality that I've never been in before."

Just as he said that, however, the Dalek immediately spoke up, its head turning from side to side, as if it suddenly had come upon a true shock.

"IT IS THE DOCTOR!" it exclaimed. "EXTERMINATE THE DOCTOR!"

The Doctor jumped out of the way, his newfound feline strength helping him immensely as the Dalek fired on him, and missed.

Jenny immediately sprung into action, firing her blaster at the Dalek's domed head. It immediately turned its attention to her as it fired once more. Jenny narrowly avoided the blast, as The Doctor ran to her side quickly.

"Jenny! Aim for it's-"

"It's eye! I know!" She cut him off as she fired again, trying to hit its eye numerous times, and failing.

The Dalek yelled "EXTERMINATE!" once more, as it fired another shot from its arm. The Doctor saw it heading right for her chest, as he quickly pushed her out of harms way. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, preparing for a fatal blow, and possibly another regeneration.

He heard the blast hit something…but felt no pain.

He opened his eyes, and saw that something was blocking him…some kind of shield, made of psionic energy. He then looked over and saw that it was Jenny who was creating it, her right arm outstretched.

She then moved her arm back to her left shoulder, the middle of her head glowing with this same energy. Before the Dalek could fire on her again, she then shot her hand back out towards the creature, firing a psionic blast from her fingertips…the blast hit the Dalek right in the eye.

The Doctor watched, absolutely astonished, as the Dalek howled out in pain. Its stalk began to squirt the same bluish, gloopy liquid, before its domed head suddenly sparked, and exploded into many little pieces.

"My word…" The Doctor laughed as he walked back up to Jenny. "You know…I think I'll keep you around for while."

"Wise choice…" Jenny smiled a bit as she holstered her weapon…she knew it was against the principles of her people to do what she just did…but there was something about this Doctor…something special…something that made it worth sharing her secret with him. She was also beginning to warm up to him as an ally, seeing just how friendly and trustworthy he truly was.

The Doctor then hopped back onto the branch once more, and scouted the area beyond the clearing. He then leapt back down and took her by the hand.

"We'd better get out of here…" He said as he led her into the nearby forest. "I think spotted some more Daleks heading this way, and they're gonna want to find out what happened to their friend here…" he motioned to the destroyed Dalek in front of them, still smoking.

"Can't we leave in your…vehicle?" She looked over to the standing TARDIS as she resisted his pull a little.

The doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid that interdimensional travel has a habit of frying all of its circuits…it'll re-energize, but it's going to need a lot of time…"

"But what about the Daleks?" She resisted again as he tried to pull her along. "Aren't you afraid that they'll break into it, and take control somehow."

The Doctor grinned slyly. "Well, they're not going to get very far without the key…" He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the key to the TARDIS. He then put it away and gripped Jenny's hand once more. "Now are you going to seek shelter with me, or are you going to try taking on the whole Dalek armada without my guidance?"

"All right, all right, you win…" She giggled just a little, finally relenting, as she let the Doctor lead her away from the scene. Part of her still wondered whether she should trust him or not, but at the same time, she knew she had little choice at the moment, as the two of them disappeared into the forest…


	3. The Man behind The Curtain

Bucky kept his eyes glued to all the navigation monitors on the bridge of the ship. The object that he had spotted earlier was still following them, and getting closer by the minute. The only sound that distracted him at this moment was that of footsteps of others coming to join him.

"Officer Blinky reporting back to duty, Captain." The android spoke to him as he ambled back towards his post, with Deadeye right behind him.

"Blinky!" Bucky smiled as he turned his back to the monitors, finally taking a moment to forget about what had been happening. "Glad to see you're back amongst the operational."

"He's back, and he's sharper than ever, Bucko." Deadeye patted the one-eyed droid on the back. "I made my own little special adjustments in addition to the patch job…I know we're in a hurry, but you'll thank me for it later."

Bucky just smiled and nodded, as Blinky turned his gaze back to the captain. "So, what's been going on in my absence, Captain?" He asked, naturally curious. "I haven't seen pilot Jenny onboard since I returned to consciousness…did something happen to her?"

Bucky's smile faded as he sighed a little, and nodded his head, his momentary happiness now gone. "Yes Blinky…I'm afraid our new enemies got her, not long after you were taken out."

"Most unfortunate…" Blinky responded softly, slowly shaking his head. He then quickly changed the subject, so as not to give his commander any more reason to dwell on his loss. "What is our present course, and heading?"

Deadeye sat at one of the other consoles, taking a look at the monitor, as Bucky answered the android. "Well, we had been on a straightforward course back to Aldeberan, until I detected something unusual, that seems to be following us…and gaining ground."

Blinky wordlessly walked up to the monitors as Bucky let him take a look. Deadeye's expression immediately took one of surprise as he observed the blip on their radar as well.

"Geez…What do ya think it is, Cap?"

"I still don't know…" He looked grimly into the screen. "But whatever it is, its got propulsion systems far more advanced than anything I've seen in the aniverse, for it be catching up so quickly."

"Suggested course of action, Captain?" Blinky asked as he looked back from the screen.

"You and Deadeye, get all our weapons systems ready to go." He answered with a sense of urgency in his voice. "We have to keep the High Artificer and the princess safe, and if these guys want a fight over them, they're gonna get one."

"Captain, we've got incoming!" Deadeye suddenly shouted, pointing to two blips of energy on the screen that appeared to be lasers fired from their pursuer.

"Raise shields!" Bucky shouted back, as Deadeye immediately ran to another console and pressed the buttons frantically.

The ship then rumbled and shook as the first shot hit them, just as Deadeye was raising the shields, damaging them, but only slightly. Deadeye was thrown to the ground as Bucky and Blinky each held onto their stations. He quickly got back up though, and rushed over to bring them up all the way, as the second shot came through, and was deflected.

"Damage report!" Bucky steadied himself as he yelled to Deadeye.

"Minor hull damage…" Deadeye answered as he examined a few of the other consoles. "Nothing to worry about at the moment."

"Ok then…" Bucky nodded. "Get going on weapons prep…Blinky, plot out an intercept course, while I go to check on our guests. We're gonna meet these guys head on, and hit them right back."

"Bucko!" Deadeye shouted to him before he had a chance to leave the bridge. "They're hailing us…"

Bucky turned around and looked ominously at the ship's communication console, slowly walking back to it. He sighed gently and placed his hands at the sides of the device.

"All right…Patch 'em through."

He looked dead ahead at the screen, scowling a little as the image of a single Dalek appeared on the surface. The interior of the ship was visible as well, its color a dank, foreboding brownish-black color, with the glow of the saucer-shaped ship's engines being the only illumination.

"ENEMY SPACECRAFT…MAKE NO FURTHER ATTEMPTS TO ESCAPE US." The Dalek barked at the rabbit. "AS YOU HAVE OBSERVED, OUR PROPULSION AND WEAPONS SYTEMS FAR EXCEED THE CAPABILITIES OF YOUR INFERIOR EQUIPMENT."

"That's enough bragging, tin can…" Bucky growled a little, as he looked right at the enemy that had killed his first mate, or so he thought. "What do you want with me?"

"YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN AN INSIGNIFICANT PEST…" The Dalek's headlamps lit up as it responded. "BUT YOUR SHIP CARRIES TWO PASSENGERS VITAL TO OUR OBJECTIVES…YOU WILL DELIVER THEM TO US."

Bucky took a deep breath as he glowered at the Dalek…it was clear the Dalek was talking about Felicia, and the High Artificer.

"What if I say no…" He rapped his fingers on the console, already knowing how the creature would answer, but humoring it nonetheless.

"THEN WE SHALL REMOVE THEM BOTH BY FORCE, AND YOU SHALL BE EXTERMINATED." The Dalek answered him fiercely.

Bucky just nodded as he thought this over…he knew that outrunning that these things was out of the question…and he wasn't stupid enough to try and outgun a ship that could already outrun them…there was only one possible way out of this predicament.

"Ok then…" He sighed again as he nodded. "You win."

"Bucko! What the hell?" Deadeye's mouth was wide open as Bucky terminated the connection with the Dalek ship.

"Relax, Deadeye…" Bucky gave him a stern look. "We're not surrendering…that's just what I'm making it look like…"

"What do you have in mind then, captain?" Blinky asked as he stepped away from his console for a moment.

"Call our friends back…" Bucky responded as he started to leave the bridge once more. "Tell them we're gonna dock on their ship, and make the delivery…I'm gonna give them what they want…" He grinned a little before continuing. "…along with a special surprise."

Deadeye had to think about this for a moment, before he realized. He narrowed his eyes and grinned a little bit. "Aye, aye, captain…"

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The Doctor rushed along the endless trees and bushes of the forest, almost tripping a few times. He still wasn't quite used to running on his new feline feet, but he perservered, like he always had. Jenny followed close behind, checking the area around them with a ready blaster, like any good soldier would do.

"Is there some kind of spaceport they haven't captured yet?" He stopped for a moment to ask Jenny as he turned to face her.

"I've never been to this planet before, Doctor…" She responded, half frustrated. " I don't know where anything is outside of the Capital district."

The Doctor looked to his left and right, observing the endless horizon of green and brown around him and his new partner. "So, we're both wandering aimlessly…brilliant."

Jenny gave him a dirty look for just a second, as he stopped to catch his breath for a moment, sitting on a downed log. "Well, at least we've lost our pursuers for the time being."

The Aldeberan cat's expression softened a bit a minute later, as she then decided to sit and rest next to him. It had indeed been a wild afternoon so far, and she figured she might as well grasp the opportunity to catch her breath when she had it. She then thought of something, as she turned her head to face him, her long hair dangling down to her left as she did so.

"Something puzzles me…" she spoke softly, in case there were any Daleks around. "You said you've never been to the Aniverse before…yet that Dalek was able to identify you…why is that?"

The doctor just scratched his head as she asked him this, still looking straight ahead from where he sat. "That's the question that's been bugging me ever since we fled…"

He then furrowed his brow a bit, and finally turned his head so that he was facing Jenny. "But here's something that's puzzling me…Why are you trying to kill the Daleks with a blaster, when you're clearly capable of obliterating them with your own mind?"

Jenny breathed in sharply as she crossed her arms in an uncomfortable fashion. "Well…you see, the females of my species are the ones who possess the psionic power…and we are instructed to keep this power a secret from all outsiders."

"I see…" The doctor nodded his head as he listened, before he smiled a bit, trying to lighten things up. "So why did you reveal your powers to me, knowing I could have just regenerated again after being killed by that Dalek…do you fancy me?"

Jenny scoffed as she shook her head, still keeping her gaze fixed on his face. "I beg your pardon…are you that conceited? I just met you."

The Doctor just laughed as he got back onto his feet. "Oh, come on…isn't there such a thing as a sense of humor in this Aniverse of yours?"

Jenny just blinked for a second, before realizing that he was pulling her leg. She then giggled a bit and got up with him as a smile crept back over her face. "Of course there is…you're just such a strange person, that I can't tell when you're joking."

The two then walked a little further into the forest, when the Doctor suddenly cocked one of his feline ears. He stopped for a moment, and put his hand out in front of Jenny as she followed. She stopped in front of his arm, and readied her blaster once more, staying quiet for him.

The doctor looked South, towards what looked like a collection of swamplands that were very close to the forest. He had heard something…something high pitched, and very irritating…almost like a Dalek's voice, but he wasn't 100 percent sure about it being a Dalek…

Before Jenny could even ask him what it was that he had heard, the answer jumped right out in front of them. A nasty looking small creature, almost like a frog, emerged from the fog of the swamplands, shrieking as it latched its big slimy tongue onto Jenny's wrist.

"Aaaaahhh!" she yelled as she dropped the gun and batted at the tenacious amphibian. "Get it off me! Get it off me!" She waved her arm around as the frog kept a hold with its nasty green tongue, its brown skin glistening as its black eyes remained wide open.

The Doctor quickly tried to grab the frog, as Jenny flailed about. "Hold still! Hold still, so I can yank the little bugger off you!" He finally saw the frog flying down towards him, as he grabbed it by the sides and attempted to pull…after about 3 pulls however, the frog then decided to defend itself, by spraying the Doctors face with a yucky, slimy green fluid directly from its hindquarters.

"Gaaaaahhhh!" The Doctor let go as he tried to brush the foul liquid from his eyes. "Lords of Gallifrey…" He whimpered, careful not to take out his eyes wit his new claws…at one point, he even licked his right paw, and instinctively tried to bathe his face with it.

Jenny just shook her head at the doctor for a moment, her face showing absolute disgust as she tried again to flick the frog off her, feeling its tongue tightly wrapped around her wrist. No matter what she did, the thing just wouldn't come off.

Suddenly, she saw something flying in her direction, some other kind of liquid…whatever it was, it caught the frog's attention immediately. As soon as the golden liquid splattered onto the ground, the slimy creature relinquished its grip on Jenny's wrist, and hopped over to lick it all up.

"They're annoying little things…" She heard a voice call out from behind her. "But if you've got a little zanzabub nectar on you, they're easy to distract."

The figure attached to the voice soon made its appearance to Jenny and the doctor…a male lizard, obviously a resident of Skaro, and dressed in what appeared to be a uniform of the High Council, the jacket partially unbuttoned currently.

Jenny took a moment to acknowledge the presence of the friendly Skaran, before turning her attention back to the Doctor…he was still moaning like a child, and licking at his paw, desperately washing the rest of the frog fluid off of him.

"My word…" he shook his head a little as he got back up from his squatting position. "I'd rather kiss the innards of a Dalek than be sprayed with that stuff again."

"Oh yes…" The lizard nodded and smiled a little. "The shrieking frogs of the southern marshlands…they've been big pests around here as long as I can remember." He then walked closer to Jenny and the Doctor. "But I have a feeling that none of us are here right now to study wildlife."

"Indeed…" Jenny responded, politely introducing herself to the lizard. "I'm Jenny of Aldeberan, crewman of the Righteous Indignation…" She then nodded towards the cheetah in the professorial clothing. "…and this is The Doctor."

"Pleasure to meet you both…" The lizard bowed his head politely. "I am Lord Milos, 3rd Pontiff of the Skaran High Council."

"Well, it's nice to finally meet another lucky escapee…" The Doctor smiled as he walked closer to the other two…he was still a little embarrassed from the scene he'd been making earlier, but he tried not to let it show.

"Yes…I was beginning to think I was the only one after a while…" Milos nodded as he grimly pondered the fates of his colleagues to himself. He then felt the need to ask, out of morbid curiosity. "What about the Grand Pontiff? Did he make it?"

Jenny lowered her gaze from Milos as she shook her head gently. "I don't think so…"

"Ohhhh no…" Milos closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, obviously distressed from this revelation. "Forgrum…" He spoke to himself, partially. "I'm so sorry, old friend…I should have stayed, and protected you…"

"Hey…" The Doctor patted him on the back, consolingly. "I'm sure he would have understood why your instincts kicked in…believe me, you're not the only person who's ever run from the Daleks."

"Daleks?" Milos looked up at him and furrowed his brow, obviously not knowing that word, being from the Aniverse.

"The creatures that attacked us…that's what they're called." Jenny spoke for the Doctor, clarifying things for Milos. "See, the Doctor…well, he's from another reality, and apparently these Daleks existed there too…"

Milos' eyes widened for a moment at this revelation…under normal circumstances, he would have thought these two were both insane, and merely brushed them off…but clearly, these were not normal circumstances anymore.

"I see…" He answered as he peered quizzically into the Doctor's spotted face. "Would you be able to help us find a way to defeat these creatures, then?"

The Doctor nodded as he walked around both of them, thinking out loud now. "I believe so…but it would help me to know where exactly this batch of Daleks came from…have you detected any abnormal cosmic phenomena near this planet, recently?"

"No…" Milos just shook his head.

The doctor moved his feline lips in all sorts of odd directions as he thought to himself, before suddenly standing in front of Milos once again. "Do you think anyone might have been creating these things? Someplace out of sight?"

Milos took a little longer to think about recent activity on the planet…anything at all…then suddenly it hit him. He went stone dead in shock for a moment, as if some kind of grim realization had just swept through his mind. His facial expression immediately went sour.

"That bastard!" He suddenly shouted. "That scheming, traitorous bastard!"

"Who?" Jenny immediately asked him. "Who are you talking about?"

Before Milos could give his answer, however, The Doctor picked up the familiar noise of something metallic wheeling itself into the area.

"PONTIFF DETECTED!" The Dalek barked out, two other Daleks flanking its left and right sides.

Jenny quickly sprung into action, firing her blaster at the center Dalek. The blast narrowly missed its eye, as The Doctor quickly ran off with Milos. He was determined to get some more answers from the Pontiff, just as soon as the three of them got to safety.

Jenny fired a few more shots, now trying to distract the three Daleks. She then took off, running close behind the other two, as the Daleks followed.

"YOU CANNOT ESCAPE!" The left Dalek taunted them as it fired.

"LOCK WEAPONS ON ALL TARGETS! EXTERMINATE!" The Right Dalek shouted as it joined in the barrage. Jenny took advantage of the Pontiff's back being turned, and placed her hand to her forehead once more, charging up more psionic energy…she then held out her hand, and fired, scoring a direct hit on the Center Dalek's eye. It howled as its head exploded in a flash of light and blue goop, giving the trio a better chance of escaping as the same liquid squirted onto the other Daleks, impairing their vision temporarily.

"Nice shooting!" The Doctor smiled back to Jenny as he kept Milos close by. He hadn't seen it, but he knew that she had used her powers again, as he fled to safety with both of his new allies…

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Deep inside a dark and lonesome chamber, a solitary figure was patiently awaiting news from the Capital. He was a Skaran lizard himself, but deformed, and confined to a mobile device, like a wheelchair…only his legs were not visible in the ridged, metallic structure.

He then heard the sound of a single Dalek entering the room. He pressed a few buttons on a console near his right hand, turning to its direction. The blue orb embedded in his head shined a bit, along with the metal wires wrapped around parts of his head. A small microphone, like one found on a headset, was strategically positioned near his mouth.

"Report…" He simply instructed the Dalek, his own voice having around the same level of distortion, only not quite as shrill and loud.

"GRAND PONTIFF EXTERMINATED…" The Dalek responded. "5 OTHER HIGH COUNCIL MEMBERS EXTERMINATED IN FIRST ATTACK AS WELL."

The lizard cocked an eye ridge as he heard the last part. "Only 5? What happened to the other 3?"

"THEY ESCAPED THE FIRST ATTACK…WE HAVE ASSEMBLED PARTIES TO TRACK DOWN AND EXTERMINATE THEM." The Dalek spoke, unflinching despite the earlier failure.

"Taking some initiative, I see…" The lizard smiled a little. "Very good…and what of the Aldeberan mammals?"

The Dalek responded once again. "WE HAVE CORNERED THEIR TRANSPORT IN DEEP SPACE…THE CAPTAIN OF THE VESSEL WISELY AGREED TO SURRENDER THEM."

"Good…Good…" The lizard mused, even more pleased now. Before he could give any more orders, another Dalek suddenly entered the room, interrupting things.

"Unit 5471…" The Lizard growled a bit as he piloted his chair to the Dalek. "You had better have a good explanation for abandoning your patrol duties."

"I BRING EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION FROM GAMMA SQUADRON…" The Dalek answered.

"What is it?" He inquired.

"GAMMA SQUADRON RETRIEVED IDENTIFICATION SCAN FROM DETROYED UNIT 2238…IT IS THE DOCTOR."

"Doctor…" The lizard's eyes widened greatly as he turned his chair once again, showing the Daleks his back. He looked to his left, then to his right as he stroked his chin with his right hand…he wasn't sure whether he should be thrilled by this news, or frightened.

"Leave me…" He finally spoke to the Daleks, his back turned to them still. "Let me know when the Aldeberans have been returned to this planet in our custody."

"IT SHALL BE DONE…" One of the Daleks answered, as they both left. The lizard was all alone once again, smiling as he remembered everything he had learned.

"Doctor…" He spoke to himself softly, in a delighted tone of voice now. "At last, we shall finally meet…"


	4. Plans in Motion

"Why did you agree to this?" Felicia demanded an answer from Bucky as she and the High Artificer were told of the plans to transfer them to the Daleks via shuttle. She was shocked and angered, a tale her eyes clearly told.

"Relax, Princess…" Bucky held up a hand. "This isn't what it looks like. Believe me, we'll have you back here in no time."

"What if you can't beat them?" She asked, still frightened. "What if they blast you out of the stars? Do you have any idea what they'll do to us?"

"Hush, child…" The High Artificer calmed her. "I'm certain the captain has a good reason for doing this."

"Thank you, highness…" Bucky nodded as he reached into his pocket. "Yes, I do…"

Felicia watched curiously, as Bucky pulled out what looked like a metal rod with a few buttons on it. He gently placed it into her hand.

"What's this?" She asked, looking down at it.

"Something Deadeye and I cooked up." Bucky responded, crossing his arms. "From what I've seen, these things seem to have something organic inside, controlling all the computerized parts. This device sends out a charge that will hopefully disable their ability to control their computers."

"Really?" Felicia asked, somewhat skeptical.

Bucky nodded. "Deadeye used the same thing on a Toad cruiser one time, and these things look like they're made from the same parts."

Felicia examined it some more as Bucky put his hands on her shoulders. "Now listen…once you and the High Artificer are on board, look for a chance to slip away and get to the ship's engine room. The rod should be able to stop any of these things that get in your way. Once you find the room, jam the rod into the engine. That should cripple the ship, and leave it wide open to attack. After that, get to the docking bay as quickly as you can…got it?"

Felicia's eyes widened at the idea…but realized there was no other choice, than to suffer whatever fate the Daleks would offer.

She nodded slowly. "Y-yes."

"I know it's a lot to ask…but just remember who you are…" he smiled as he reassured her. "I know you have a lot of strength hidden inside…just like her."

Felicia nodded again, her face now becoming more focused as she remembered Jenny, and what the creatures did to her.

"Let me at them…" she softly spoke.

"That's the spirit." Bucky grinned as he tapped her once on both shoulders. "Come along then."

Felicia nodded, as she then took the High Artificer's hand, squeezing it just a little in reassurance to her grandmother as the two followed Bucky slowly…

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The Doctor ran into a clearing with Lord Milos right next to him, as Jenny covered them both from behind. Once it was clear that no Daleks were in the area, the trip each found rocks and tree trunks to sit on and catch their breath.

"These things are tenacious…" Milos spoke lowly, as he accepted Jenny's canteen, and drank from it. "Tenacious and ruthless…just like their creator."

"You know who made them?" Jenny shot him a wide-eyed gaze, as the Doctor nodded, having suspected from Milos' outburst before the Daleks attacked.

"I've suspected, yes…" Milos nodded back.

"Davros…"

The Doctor stood up quickly upon hearing this name. "Say that name again?"

Milos cocked his head, curious. "Davros…You know of him?"

The Doctor scratched his head. "There was a Davros on my Universe as well, and he also created the original Daleks. I don't know how different your version is, though."

"Well, I can tell you all about him." Milos spoke up as he took another sip, and handed the canteen back to Jenny. "He was the son of an Aristocrat on this world, one who made some very sneaky arms deals with enemy planets, and wound up in prison for the rest of his natural life…I thought he'd turn out OK without his crooked father around, at first."

Jenny stood behind the Skaran, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Go on…"

Milos looked back up at the Doctor as he spoke. "Then the Toad Wars came, and many times in that period, the Toad Empire extended their hand to us, proposing an alliance between us…Forgrum, the Grand Pontiff, had grave doubts about such an alliance, but many were adamant that we do it, and their ring leader was Davros."

"I had wondered about why the alliance had fallen through, when I heard…" Jenny thought aloud. "I had no idea that Skaro was that divided on the idea."

Milos nodded again as he continued. "Then, right about when the war ended, we intercepted a message that Davros had sent to the Toads, talking about some secret weapon he discovered, and that he was willing to sell it to them for the right price. The Grand Pontiff immediately called for his arrest, and Davros fled. The police had no choice but to fire when they found him. They injured him in quite a few places. He's been confined to a mobile chair ever since then."

"Where is he now?" The Doctor inquired.

"We don't know…" Milos lowered his head. "We've tried to keep this quiet the whole time. We initially placed him under strict house arrest, but then something attacked his home during the fifth month of his sentence, killing all of his guards. He escaped, and we haven't been able to locate him since then."

The Doctor shook his head slowly and closed his eyes. "He sounds just as twisted and black-hearted as the Davros I knew in my world."

Jenny narrowed her gaze at Milos now. "You let the High Artificer and the Princess come to this planet, knowing that such a dangerous person was loose?"

Milos groaned a bit upon hearing this. "I warned him…I warned Forgrum so many times to wait, that it was too early. But he was much too eager to renew Skaro's relations with Aldeberan."

"My home planet…" Jenny quickly explained to The Doctor. "The High Artificer and her Granddaughter came here on a Diplomatic mission. They've escaped now, thankfully."

The Doctor nodded slowly, and thought to himself. He then gently took Jenny aside as Milos laid back on a rock, resting his eyes for a moment.

"Your powers…" he made sure to speak softly. "Do they include telepathy, by any chance?"

"Yes…" she nodded. "Why?"

The Doctor smiled a bit, then nodded. "Then there just might be a way to find out where this Davros is hiding…"

He then walked over to Milos, and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Find any other survivors, stay clear of the Daleks, and find shelter."

"Where will you go?" Milos asked.

"Jenny and I are going to look for Davros' hideout. When we do, we'll put out a signal, a flare, an explosive, anything we can find. All right?"

Milos nodded a bit as he stood once more. "But, how will you find it."

"Trust me…" The Doctor grinned as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "I've worked out bigger puzzles than this in my lifetime. Now go."

Milos nodded as he waved to the allies, who were now running off. "May the fortunes favor you, Doctor!"

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Felicia walked with immense fear in her eyes, staying close to her Grandmother as two daleks flanked them on both sides, a third one in front of them leading them inside the dark, threatening ship.

Golden orbs on the walls and over the ceilings provided the slight illumination to the rooms, which were flooded with lines of daleks, moving silently now. Felicia felt her heart pounding, knowing she was now in the belly of the beast, as she clutched her Grandmother's hand.

A single dalek soon broke rank from the others, and wheeled up to the dalek in front of the escort group.

"REPORT"

"TRANSFER COMPLETE. HIGH ARTIFICER AND PRINCESS OF ALDEBERAN NOW IN OUR POSESSION. REQUEST ORDERS OF PLACEMENT."

"PRISONERS SHALL BE KEPT IN STASIS ROOM 6219, AND ARE TO BE RETURNED TO MASTER'S QUARTERS ON SKARO. THEY ARE TO BE KEPT ALIVE DURING THIS TIME."

"AFFIRMATIVE." The lead dalek then turned to the two Alderberans and spoke.

"THE PRISONERS WILL WALK WITH US. ANY ATTEMPT TO BREAK FROM THE GROUP WILL RESULT IN GREAT PAIN."

"WALK. WALK." The other two daleks goaded Felicia, as she quickly nodded and walked next to her Grandmother.

"Not very well mannered creatures, are they?" The High Artificer glowered a bit as she walked. Felicia giggled just a little, and nodded as she breathed a bit more easily now, waiting for the right moment.

The escorts soon began to break away from the rest of the daleks, and confidently moved their prisoners into the area where they were to be locked away. This hallway was a little darker now, and rather empty, as one of the daleks soon zoomed over to a panel, and manipulated it with the stalk on its head.

A large door soon swung upward to reveal a small, inhospitable cell underneath, as the dalek soon moved back over to Felicia.

"THE PRISONER WILL MOVE HERE."

Felicia stood still for a moment, not moving, not speaking.

She soon felt something sting her in the back of her leg, as she grunted and fell to her knees. One of the daleks behind her had hit her with a non-lethal ray that caused sharp pains.

"MOVE. MOVE" The dalek barked at her.

She looked down, and saw the rod that Bucky gave her, hidden in her belt.

"Hold on! I dropped something!" She spoke, as she reached quickly into the belt.

Before the dalek could shout another order, she quickly pulled out the rod, aimed it at the dalek, and fired. A wave of blue energy erupted from the device, smacking into the dalek, and making it yelp in pain as it soon found itself paralyzed.

"SUBDUE THEM! SUBDUE THEM!" The lead dalek ordered, as the non paralyzed dalek on the other side fired a stronger pain ray. Felicia, quickly remembering that Bucky and the others weren't present, quickly created a force field on her hand as she jumped in front of her grandmother.

Just as the ray hit the field, it soon deflected off to the side, and hit the lead dalek, making it shake and shout a bit in pain, as Felicia then fired the psionic energy from her hand into the other dalek's dome, making it explode.

"A little present from the Captain!" Felicia exclaimed gleefully, happy to finally lash out at these terrible creatures, as she then fired the device at the lead dalek. It screamed again as it shook, and went limp, now paralyzed as well.

"Go to the docking bay and hide!" She quickly told her Grandmother. "I'll find the engine room and stop these things in their tracks."

"Very well." The High Artificer nodded. "Be careful, dear…"

Felicia nodded, and quickly hugged her, before running off…

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Davros maneuvered himself over to a console, bringing some light into the darkened room as he looked up to see a commanding dalek facing him on the other end.

"What is the status of our prisoners?" He asked, calmly.

"UNIT 7748 WAS TO HAVE PLACED THEM INTO A STASIS CELL FOR THEIR RETURN. HOWEVER, WE HAVE RECENTLY FOUND UNIT 7748 AND HIS ASSOCIATES ALL TAKEN OUT OF COMMISSION. WHERABOUTS OF BOTH PRISONERS IS UNKNOWN."

Davros growled a bit in frustration as he ran his gloved hand over his face. "How? How in the hell did two politicians from Aldeberan manage to break free?"

He then looked back at the dalek. "Find them…find them now! If we can't even make hostages out of ONE planet's leaders, then all of my planning and execution will be for naught!"

"AFFIRMATIVE." The dalek answered. "WE SHALL NOT FAIL YOU, MASTER."

Davros nodded slowly, as he then terminated the link to his console. He then turned, and moved his chair over to another part of the room. He leaned over and lightly ran his fingers over a console, and slowly turned up a dial.

Light began to come up over what looked like a tank, filled with green liquid. He moved to the center of this tank, and put his hand on the glass.

In this liquid rested a single object, which looked like a jar, filled with what looked like a lifeless mass of tissue…

"Despite a few hiccups…" Davros spoke into the tank. "I would have to say that our children are doing well…very well indeed…"

Davros smiled a bit as he admired his old find once more…the remains of the Emperor Dalek.


	5. The Escape

Felicia ducked from one corridor into another, keeping her eyes open for daleks at all times. She walked backwards a few feet before she suddenly bumped into something behind her.

She turned to see a dalek turning towards her.

"APPREHEND!" The dalek shouted.

She screamed in shock and let loose with another blast of psionic energy from her fingers. This one managed to puncture a hole in the dalek's body, quickly immobilizing the machine.

She caught her breath as she looked into the smoking hole of the dalek. It had gone into its midsection and out through the back.

Something then suddenly jumped up onto Felicia's head. It was the tiny creature that was once inside, controlling the dalek.

"Ahhhhh! Gaaahhh!" She quickly reached up and grabbed the creature's small tentacles, wrestling with it as she slammed into a few walls in the process, before landing down on her back.

With a burst of strength, she finally managed to pry the creature off from her head, and toss it into the air. Before it could hit the ground, she took out the rod and blasted it with another wave of energy, frying the being on contact.

The burnt body of the creature landed on the floor, and trembled a little, before shriveling up forever.

"Uggghhh…yuck!" Felicia wiped herself off and panted softly as she watched it. She had no clue that there was something organic inside of these things…what were they, she wondered?

Before she could think about this more, another dalek wheeled itself in from a distant corridor and fired its pain ray.

"IT IS THE PRINCESS!" The dalek shouted, rallying other daleks around it, as Felicia avoided the blast and jumped up, grabbing onto a cable hanging a bit from below the ceiling.

The daleks aimed at her in vain, all the shots missing as she used her legs to swing a bit on the horizontally lined cable, before finally leaping off and grabbing onto another one as she continued to swing a bit with her legs.

She then spotted a high platform in the distance, as she swung back a few more times, and with a deep breath, launched herself towards it.

The daleks fired, and missed, as she soared and somersaulted in midair, before landing on the platform with knees bent, hitting her mark flawlessly.

She smiled as she then got up and looked down at the pursuing daleks below her. "It'll take a while for them to get up here, I think…"

But she was soon proven wrong, however, as a few of the daleks suddenly fired off thrusters under their bodies, soon going airborne as they slowly began to rise towards Felicia's position.

"Oh bother…" she moaned to herself a little, as she quickly began to run down the hallway connected to the platform.

"Come on…where's the engine room on this thing…" she looked back and forth quickly, as she then noticed a few tubes running down one of the walls, carrying what looked like some kind of fuel, glowing blue in color.

"Maybe this will lead to it…" she thought to herself as she quickly ran down in the direction the tubes ran towards.

As she ran down one of the hallways, another dalek soon came out from an intersection and faced her down.

"YOU SHALL NOT ESCAPE!" It yelled to her.

"Aaaahhh!" Felicia quickly got down onto her knees as the dalek fired its pain ray. The blast sailed over her head, just barely, as she quickly slid past the dalek and turned to fire another psionic blast from her hand as her head-jewel glowed.

The blast smacked the dalek hard in the back, causing it to yowl in pain as its chest, then its dome exploded in succession, leaving behind a shredded, broken mess, as Felicia quickly got back on her feet, and ran again, following the tubes.

She ran and ran, as she quickly turned another corner, only to find three daleks, one behind the other, staring right at her.

She was still running as she screamed, and jumped up. She unintentionally landed on the dome of the lead dalek, as she stumbled a bit and sprang off the same surface. Just as she leapt, the confused dalek fired its pain ray, which ricocheted off a wall, and smacked the second dalek in the eye.

She landed behind the third dalek, which soon turned to fire at her, before she quickly nailed that one in the dome with another psionic blast as she somersaulted again and hit the floor. The blast knocked the dalek back, causing it to smack into the second dalek as it fell, causing the second dalek to topple the first one like domino before it could get any shots off.

Felicia turned her back on the trio, as she ran down towards what looked like a set of steel doors. She concentrated, gathered power, and reared back, before tossing a ball of energy into the doors, and smashing them wide open.

Ahead of her, she saw a large, blue, cylindrical object, pulsing with energy, and had many cables attached to it. It was indeed the main engine.

"Finally!" She shouted to herself, as she ran into the room, only to find a group of 5 daleks all watching the controls.

"INTRUDER! INTRUDER!" One of them barked, bringing the other 4 to attention.

"Will this NEVER end?" Felicia rolled her eyes as she quickly jumped out of the way of their pain ray blasts, landing on top of a heating duct above the room. The daleks continued to fire on her, as she then jumped, twirled a bit, aiming for another duct.

She overshot her mark, however, and sailed right over it. She only had one place where she could land safely…the console, right in front of the daleks.

She landed on her bent knees, and with her left hand on a panel, as the daleks looked her dead in the eyes…she quickly gritted her teeth, and prepared for the worst.

But nothing happened…she slowly opened her eyes and looked them all over, befuddled. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

"MUST NOT DAMAGE ENGINE CONTROL CONSOLE" One of them responded.

Felicia slowly grinned at this. "Really now?" She slowly reached for the rod. "Well…Jenny always said to never be a slave to routine…"

With that, she jabbed the rod directly into the control console. Sharp metallic barbs quickly came out from the penetrating end, locking it into place as it shocked the engine with a force of powerful, purple energy.

"ALERT! ALERT!" One of the daleks shouted as Jenny leapt over them and ran out of the room. "MAIN ENGINE HAS BEEN INFUSED WITH UNKNOWN ENERGY SOURCE!"

"COUNTERACT!" Another dalek suggested.

"CANNOT!" the first dalek responded. "ENERGY SOURCE IS TOO POWERFUL. ENGINE OVERLOAD IS IMMINENT!"

"SEND ALERTS THROUGHOUT VESSEL" Another dalek shouted. "PREPARE ESCAPE PODS! SET COORDINATES FOR SKARO AND SEND TO UNITS ABLE TO LEAVE!"

Felicia was well outside of the main engine room now, as she ran from one hallway to another.

"I don't have much time…" she thought, as she ran past what looked like a spare parts room. "There has to be something I can do to speed up my escape, so I can to Grandma in time…"

She then stopped for a moment, as she remembered spotting something in the spare parts room. She ran back, and looked again, seeing the bits of dalek parts hung up neatly…and something else…it looked like a vehicle.

"A Skaran speed cruiser!" Felicia exclaimed as she ran to the driver's side door. She wondered what such a thing was doing on a dalek ship, as she also found a Skaran skeleton sitting in the seat…obviously someone who had strayed into territory that he shouldn't have.

She was eager to try one of these things when they first landed on Skaro…and now seemed as good at time as any. She quickly opened the door, pushed the skeleton out, and hopped into the seat.

After some tinkering with the wires, she managed to get the engine started. It roared to life as she grinned up at the sky, whilst buckling the seat belt.

"Thank you, oh goddess…" She mused, before she suddenly looked down to see a dalek staring into the room.

"YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED HERE!"

"Ahhhhhh!" Felicia quickly pushed the twin throttles forward a bit, as the cruiser took off with great speed, and rammed into the dalek before it could fire. The cruiser went crashing through a railing, and flew down into a large, open hallway, with the dalek still attached to its pointed hood.

After falling quite a few feet, the cruiser landed, with its barrier below keeping it afloat as Felicia quickly got a hold of the controls. The dalek began to spin its head, wondering what to do, before Felicia found a chance, and rammed the dalek into a wall, the point of the cruiser's hood breaking the creature virtually in half as she slammed it in.

"Whoa…" She shook off the impact after a moment, as she then pulled back on the throttles, reversing and turning a bit, as she steadied the cruiser…she then pushed up on the throttles, slowly going into full speed, as she raced up the corridors now…

As this was happening, The High Artificer was still in hiding in the docking bay of the ship. Cautiously, she peeked out from behind a few steel crates, watching the daleks, as they all seemed to be scrambling towards the escape pods now, alarms blaring in all directions.

"Oh…I do hope Felicia's all right…" She thought to herself, as she clutched her hands together for a moment.

Her answer would soon come, as she suddenly heard the sound of a CRASH through one of the walls. She looked up to see Felicia, racing in on her new cruiser, as she slammed on the brakes, and slid into a few daleks in the process, toppling them all over.

"Grandma!" She shouted and waved. "Over here!"

The High Artificer nodded as she quickly made her way over. At this point, the daleks seemed to busy with escaping to pay too much attention to them, as parts of the ship were already beginning to rumble, and blow up from the inside.

A beam nearly crushed the High Artificer from above as it fell, causing her to jump as Felicia quickly took her hand, and pulled her aboard next to her.

"Can we make it out in time?" The High Artificer asked.

"With this thing…definitely…" Felicia smiled, as she pushed a button on the console.

"SPACE MODE ACTIVATED" The onboard computer spoke, as a dome quickly covered the top half around them, almost like a convertible car.

"Who taught you how to drive this thing?" The High Artificer asked, puzzled.

"Oh…" Felicia giggled a bit. "I was a little bored during the time before the attack, so I had a few Skaran guys show me around this big garage near where we were staying."

The High Artificer nodded. "Well then, I guess that was a good time for you to be bored, for a change."

Felicia blushed a bit and nodded, smiling as she quickly went full throttle. The cruiser quickly charged out of the docking bay, just as parts of that area were beginning to explode, and raced towards a weak looking wall. She then hit a special boost button, which gave the vehicle just enough speed to punch a big hole in the metal, and allow it to pass through.

The vacuum of space now invaded the docking bay as the cruiser escaped, grabbing and sucking out several daleks, as the rest of the ship began to consume itself in flames.

Felicia slowly began to pull back on the throttle as she put more and more space between the cruiser and the ship…before something suddenly grabbed her with a *BUMP*.

"AH!" She exclaimed. "What now?"

"Relax, Princess…" a familiar voice called out. "We got ya!"

Felicia smiled widely. "Deadeye!"

"The one and only, highness!" The duck responded. "All you need to do now is sit back, and let our tractor beam take care of the rest. Great to see ya both alive, and great job!"

Felicia nodded as she brought the throttles back to their neutral position, and sighed as she slumped back in her seat, happy to know that her ordeal was now over.

"This…this is what it must have felt like for Jenny…every single day…" she spoke sleepily now, relaxing as her grandmother gently patted her on the head.

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"So…you think I'll be able to read the mind of one of these things?"

Jenny shot the doctor a somewhat skeptical look, as she kneeled behind some bushes with him in the forest, on the lookout for daleks.

"I think so…" The doctor nodded. "Your powers are strong enough to make one of these daleks explode, so I think you maybe be able to discern something from one of their tiny brains."

"It's not as easy to read minds as you might think, Doctor…" Jenny crossed her arms.

"Why?" The Doctor cocked his head a bit. "Can't you read mine right now?"

Jenny gave him a funny look, noticing the somewhat mischievous nature in his eyes.

"I'd prefer not to…" Jenny kept her arms crossed, but smiled just a little, sensing his jest.

"Tsk, pity…" The Doctor jibed again as he looked back out of the bushes. "Once you've been inside a mind like mine, you probably wouldn't want to leave it for any other."

"I highly doubt that…" Jenny shifted her eyes a bit. "You're not THAT interesting, Doctor…"

"Oh no?" The Doctor looked back at her with a smile. "How about the fact that I can read your mind…and I know that you're lying…didn't need your powers for that, now did I?"

Jenny thought this over for a second…and just laughed it off, as The Doctor looked over and spotted a dalek. He quickly shushed her, as the two hunkered behind the bush.

"I'm going to need to get a good look at the creature inside, if I'm to read its mind…" Jenny told him, quietly.

The Doctor nodded slowly. "Then we'll need to open the thing up…" He took out his trusty sonic screwdriver, and began recalibrating it.

"The trick is going to be getting the thing to stand around long enough for us." Jenny looked up again for a second. "Got any ideas?"

The Doctor rubbed his fuzzy head for a moment, before he saw something dripping from a plant nearby…zanzabub nectar.

"Yes…I think I do…"

The dalek continued its patrol, idly turning its dome from left to right…before something suddenly jumped out behind it.

"Hey! Hey, trash can!"

The dalek quickly turned to see Jenny, waving her arms at it.

"Come and get me, you unholy pile of scrap!"

"EXTERMINATE!" The dalek predictably responded, firing its laser as Jenny threw a ball of psionic energy close to it, deliberately missing as it exploded where its feet would be if it had been bipedal.

The dalek turned its dome some more, seeing nothing but dust, before The Doctor suddenly sprang up in back of the creature, pelting it with a bulb of nectar, which splattered all over the back of the dalek.

"HOLD STILL! HOLD STILL!" The dalek protested, as The Doctor used his new jumping abilities to leap back in front of the creature as its head was still backwards. He then pelted the front of the dalek with another bulb, as a gloppy mess of nectar splattered all over it

He then leapt out of view, and programmed his sonic screwdriver to send out a high frequency screeching noise.

The dalek, still confused, turned around and around, covered in gooey nectar, as it looked for any sign of the Doctor or Jenny. Instead, what it soon found was a pack of shrieking frogs, all leaping towards it.

"GET OFF! GET OFF! DO NOT INTEREFERE!" The dalek yelped as the frogs all jumped on the front and the back of its metal body, sticking to the nectar and licking it all up.

The Doctor then leapt down behind it once more, and jammed the powered up screwdriver into its dome. The dalek was unable to fight back, still covered in frogs, as The Doctor slowly cut the dome open, and reached inside with his hand, as Jenny stood at the ready.

Within a few minutes, The Doctor grunted, and pulled out the slimy, tentacle-laden creature inside of the dalek.

"Catch!" He yelled to Jenny, as he quickly threw the creature to her.

Jenny was unfazed by the creature's ugliness (Thanks to her experiences with the toads, and Al Negator) as she caught it, and put a hand over its head, immobilizing it, as she focused her mind.

The Doctor let the frogs finish the nectar on the dalek's shell, as he slowly walked over and observed Jenny, whose head jewel was glowing now.

After a few moments, Jenny grunted a bit, and finally let go, tossing the creature into the bushes. She panted a bit and leaned over, hands on her knees.

"Goddess…" She spoke, finally. "Such a violent mindset…these creatures make Komplex look like pacifists."

"Did you learn anything?" The Doctor enquired, as he helped Jenny back up.

"Just…a lot of images…random…jumbled…" Jenny rubbed her head as she walked further down the path. "I think the more I see of this planet, the more clear it will become."

"Well then…" The Doctor smiled as he looked around. "There are no daleks present right now, and I've never been one to pass on a good sightseeing opportunity in a new world…" he then politely offered his arm. "Shall we?"

Jenny shot him an odd look at the gesture, then chuckled a little.

"You are so strange, Doctor…" She answered with a smile, before walking off slowly.

The Doctor took a moment too look back up to the sky…what she said sounded almost like something Rose would have said.

"I guess that's what makes me so memorable…" He mused in a bittersweet manner, before finally walking off to join his new partner.


End file.
